Compliance Alert

U.S. Enacts ID Theft Sentencing Law

President Bush has signed into law a measure that imposes mandatory prison terms for criminals who use identity theft in committing terrorist acts and other offenses. Rep. John Carter (Texas) first introduced the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act into Congress last April. The bill, HR 1731, also had 26 co-sponsors.

The bill prescribes sentences, which are to be imposed in addition to the punishments provided for the related felonies, of two years’ imprisonment for knowingly transferring, possessing or using, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person during and in relation to specified felony violations (including theft of public property, theft by a bank officer or employee, theft from employee benefit plans, various fraud and immigration offenses and false statements regarding Social Security and Medicare benefits); and of five years’ imprisonment for knowingly taking such action with respect to a means of identification or a false identification document during and in relation to specified felony violations pertaining to terrorist acts.

The Act also prohibits a court from placing any person convicted of such a violation on probation; from reducing any sentence for the related felony to take into account the sentence imposed for such a violation; or from providing for concurrent terms of imprisonment for a violation of this Act and a violation under any other Act.

The Act also expands the existing identify theft prohibition to cover possession of a means of identification of another with intent to commit specified unlawful activity; to increase penalties for violations; and to include acts of domestic terrorism within the scope of a prohibition against facilitating an act of international terrorism.

The bill modifies provisions regarding embezzlement and theft of public money, property or records to provide for combining amounts from all the counts for which the defendant is convicted in a single case for purposes of determining which penalties apply.

The new Act complements the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), which President Bush signed into law in December.